The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant, commercially known as Regal Geranium, botanically known as Pelargonium grandiflorum, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Solstice Purple’.
The new Regal Geranium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Foxley, Dereham, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Regal Geranium cultivars with compact growth habit, early flowering habit, numerous small flowers, and interesting flower and foliage colors that do not require vernalization for flowering.
The new Regal Geranium originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in June, 2001 of a proprietary Pelargonium grandiflorum selection identified as code number RPOLB4, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Pelargonium grandiflorum selection identified as code number RPFTJ24, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Solstice Purple was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant from within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Foxley, Dereham, Norfolk, United Kingdom.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings at Foxley, Dereham, Norfolk, United Kingdom, since June, 2002 has shown that the unique features of this new Regal Geranium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.